Basingstoke RFC finish season at home

Basingstoke RFC finish season at home

TOM Humberstone scored five tries as Basingstoke RFC recorded their biggest win of the season with a 71-0 victory at Hampshire rivals United Services Portsmouth.

This superb show in their penultimate league game, made sure of a top five finish in the London Three South West this season.

Stoke will wrap up their campaign on Saturday, with a home game against champions Farnham.

Stoke chose to receive the kick off against Pompey with the idea of retaining some possession and building some momentum.

Early handling errors turned the ball over to the opposition and they had to weather a strong onslaught for the next 10 minutes as US Portsmouth camped in our 22.

Huge credit to the Stoke defence held them out and stopped them getting any points in the board.

Once the visitors got the ball they looked dangerous in attack as our backs we're too strong for their opposites.

Tom Humberstone gave us a great platform by kicking well to touch and we built our attack from within the US Portsmouth half.

During the first half Stoke scored some very good tries from Will Joyce, Tom Humberstone, Dave Lambert and Chris May-Miller.

After the break, the visitors carried on with Humberstone adding four more scores as well as kicking eight conversions, Joyce and May-Miller also went over again, while Simon Appleby also scored a try.

Captain Robbie Northcote said: "I was extremely proud of the entire squad and how they approached the second half, at times our finishing was ruthless and it was great to see some of the young lads play without any pressure and have the ability to express themselves."

Looking ahead to Saturday's final game Northcote said: "It's always nice to finish the season playing in front of a bumper crowd at home.

"It's been a really enjoyable season and the support of the club, its sponsors, its volunteers, its coaches and staff make it a great environment to be involved in. I look forward to seeing everyone this weekend."

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